Day 23 - Darwin

We stayed at Big 4, Howard Springs which proved to be a good choice based on what other travellers told us about their sites.

This was mainly a stay to ‘Do the museums’ and to catch up with some friends. There are numerous museums, informative heritage walks, a guided tour of Parliament House and the Mindil Markets at sunset. For a city that we had previously considered a bit of an outpost, Darwin has an amazing amount of history and vibrant commercial activity. The displays about the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese and the destruction of Darwin by cyclone Tracy are remarkable and poignant.

The highlight of the stay was a day trip to Bathurst Island.

We were transported from the Sealink Cat to the Bathurst Island by a sort of landing craft. On our arrival the police checked our bags for alcohol.

Landing craft to Bathurst Island

Police welcome

Strong current in the straits

The current between the islands being considerable as shown by the pull on the mooring buoy.

Our guide was an elder who told us about the history and customs of his people. Once again ‘skin colour’ plays a central part in who can marry whom to maintain health in the gene pool of about 1,800 people across both islands.

The only taboo place for photos was the cemetery where Christian beliefs and traditional beliefs mingle. Each warrior paints their face before a battle with a design which is unique to them. They do this so that the spirit of any opposing warrior they might kill will not be able to recognise them after the battle. It might be more confusing for the spirits if they all had the same design.

We were also treated to a smoking ceremony with fires lit using the traditional Zippo lighter. The blessing is “Good mind, good heart, good spirit.”

One of the girls, Roslyn Orsto, is a talented artist and she is due to exhibit in Sydney shortly.